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Liberals suffer blow as Sandra Pupatello quits politics

Sandra Pupatello, Ontario's minister of economic development and trade, confirmed to the Star she will not seek re-election in the October election. (Tony Bock / Toronto Star file photo)

By Robert Benzie and Rob FergusonQueen’s Park Bureau

Fri., June 10, 2011

One of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s most powerful ministers is quitting politics.

In a surprise blow to the governing Liberals, Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello has announced she will not seek re-election in the Oct. 6 vote.

“I never expected to do this for this long,” Pupatello, 48, who was first elected in 1995, said in an interview Friday from Windsor.

The influential Windsor West MPP informed her riding association of her plans Thursday night and told fellow Liberal caucus members in an overnight email that it was difficult to depart.

“My decision is a personal one. I never envisioned being at Queen’s Park for 16 years. And now, with the economy getting back on track in my hometown of Windsor, I feel that it is the right time for me to make a change,” she wrote.

Her husband, lawyer Jim Bennett, is former leader of the Newfoundland Liberal Party and the two have had a long-distance relationship for years as his law firm is based in Daniel’s Harbour, Nfld., and their home is Windsor.

Pupatello, a former minister of community and social services and education, told the Star that rumours she has a big corporate job lined up are “a crock.”

“Who knows? I would never say never, but I’m not planning on it,” she said.

Well regarded in the business community, she has been instrumental in helping Ontario’s auto industry rebound from the worldwide recession.

McGuinty, in a statement Friday, hailed his long-time friend and ally.

“Sandra has served Windsor with passion, and I’m grateful to her for all she has given to her city and her province. Sandra’s extraordinary efforts to help Ontario get back on track after the global recession have led to new jobs and investment in Windsor and across our province,” the premier said.

“I wish Sandra and her family all the best as she begins a new chapter in her life.”

In opposition from 1995 through 2003, she was a key player in helping the Liberals return to power.

Officials in the Progressive Conservative administrations of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves often said the firebrand Pupatello was the Liberal MPP they feared the most.

Tory MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) said Friday she was “a remarkable presence in the Legislature.”

“She’s got flare and puts her message across well,” said Shurman, noting her departure suggests “there are more to come” from the Grit benches.

“The Liberal government is coming apart in seams,” he said.

Party sources confide Pupatello’s departure could make it difficult for the Liberals to retain the seat after this fall. New Democratic MP Brian Masse has held the seat federally since 2002 and polls suggest the NDP is surging provincially.

“This is still very much a winnable seat,” Pupatello insisted.

While Liberal campaign co-chair Kathleen Wynne said no successor has been selected, she is confident Windsor West will stay in the Grit column.

“We can never take anything for granted, but she’s laid a terrific foundation there,” said Wynne, who is also transportation minister.

“It’s wide open now. If you look at Windsor things are not the greatest. Unemployment is high … people are fed up,” said Horwath.

The NDP is not slated to nominate a candidate in Windsor West till June 16.

Pupatello joins a growing list of Liberals not running again, including Speaker Steve Peters, Bruce Crozier, who died suddenly last Friday just months after announcing his resignation, Government House Leader Monique Smith, Minister without Portfolio Gerry Phillips, and former cabinet ministers David Ramsay and Aileen Carroll, among others.

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